i have a st-15 that has stripped 2 spur gears in a week and need advice. i don't have the manual so i don't know if the slipper clutch will affect this or if the gear mesh is just too wide. should there be any space between the spur and the pinion? if the slipper is too tight will this strip gears? to fix too much space in the gears can't i just loosen the engine mounts and turn the engine?
thanks.
mike

this is the spur gear now. the pinion will just freewheel against it now.

My ST-15 did the same thing. The gear mesh kept getting spread apart after every few runs I made. The problem is that the screws holding in the engine loosen because of the vibration. Try this; loosen the engine mount bolts on the bottom of the chassis and put a piece of paper between the spur gear and the clutch bell. Then push the engine back until it stops (don't push too hard). Now, make sure the engine is perfectly straight and tighten the engine mount bolts securely. You now have the correct gear mesh. The ST-15 was never a great quality truck in the first place and the bolts in that thing start vibrating off as soon as you start to drive it so after every run you make, check and tighten any loose screws (especially the engine!!) and you should be set. Hope this helps!!

Justin

thanks. i noticed the bolt issue. i have replaced the muffler bolts twice now.

thread lock is a beautiful thing.

I use threadlock and I also found some small lock washers for the engine screws. Still a good idea to check regularly and make sure everything is tight.

I went to the local hardware store and bought some steel screws and tightend up REALY tight, and the engine hasn't moved a bit!

Thread Lock can be a great thing, but it can also be a hassle if you are disassembling the car very often. Try using lock washers first, if they don't cut it, then go to thread lock. Also, make sure you have the proper mesh between the two gears, the paper trick works well. A tight slipper clutch shouldn't hurt anything if you're set up right.


Hope this helps

I messed up my diff when i tightend the slipper clutch up too tight...

that is WAY too loose.

stick a peice of paper in the gear mesh and push it tight. lock it down then remove the paper. that should get you the correct mesh

it should spin freely but if you hold the spur and rotate the clutch you should only get a tiny fraction of play.

Dam dude, you are super good at photoshop!

not my pic. someone else posted it (he got it from another site) and I saved it to edit it to show some other details, I just dug it out of the bin and posted it to help out. I wish I had that artistic ability but I cant even get stick figures to look right

Here is another trick I did to keep my engine from moving forward and chewing up gears. I took the engine off and epoxied a piece of sandpaper on the chassis where the engine sits. Now, steel screws with lock washers holds the engine very secure.

sorry, wrong pic....

I have one of these on order (should be here Thursday I HOPE)...
Should I bother and remove everything to do that or just wait till something breaks and worry about it?

I planned on taking the screws out one at a time (so nothing moved) and putting lock washers on them to lock everything in place. I've read about nitro cars jiggling everything loose. I'd hate to have something break cause I didn't properly prepare the car.

i would go over all the screws aroung the engine area at least. i have lost muffler screws and apparently the engine shifted.

Cool,` thanks for the advice. Overall, you think its a decent truck?

Eventually I'm gonna pick up a T Maxx and a better radio, but this is to make sure I'm serious about the nitro car thing.
If I use it for a week and stop at least I haven't invested too much cash...

i have a blast with mine. it is fast. real fast. besides the small maintenance issues it has proven very durable and fun. great value and a sleeper of a truck.

Is that an st-15? It looks something like an rc10!

Never mind...